Mt. Fuji photographer guy
who lived just down the train line from where I worked in Japan
My buddy Martin in Japan sent me some photos from a Japanese photographer who recently died. Premature death due to stroke- a familiar story these days. I thought I’d post this one as I don’t think I saw it on Mark Crispin Miller’s excellent and tragic compendium of actual and potential vax injuries.
One thing I like about the guy is he would allow you to photograph at his exhibits. I’ll let Martin briefly tell the story in the texts he sent me. (Please excuse the flash reflection on some of the pics, from Martin’s wife’s camera.):
45 yr. old Shimzu bread factory worker. Some amazing photos. Had a subarachnoid hemorrhage recently during this exhibition, passed away. Crazy.
The photographer’s name is Hashimukai Makoto (橋向真). He allowed people to photograph his photographs at the museum. Poor guy worked in a Shimizu bread factory until age 35, then found he had a passion and talent for photography. Being from Shimizu, most of his photos are of Mt. Fuji, the seasons, and his main focus, the clouds of Fuji. He gained moderate fame for his Fuji double-diamond shot, past couple of years earnings from his photos allowed him to spend less time slaving away at the bread factory. Was going around Japan for a few exhibitions, then boom. Only 46.
At least he found success in something he loved.
Hello from sometimes sunny Noborito DW.
Hashimukai Makoto? A new name for me, but then again, my memory is such that even after a frequent tipping of the mug with the same person, it's still a "what's that name again?".
I may have seen some of his photos along my jaunts among the Fuji 5 Lakes area. But passing at 45? That IS 'Mark Crispin Miller tragic'. Maybe it's time for a new meme, if not a shorter new word, for indiscriminate state murder. Or maybe more discriminate? You say he worked in a bread factory until 35? Putting on my tinfoil hat here, but I doubt the sociopaths gaming this kabuki-show have much appreciation for museums or art of any kind. Maybe he was just tagged as 'disposable labor'?
As we both know, Japan, along with other corporate nation-states appears to be not-so-covert in implementing, if not accelerating, the plot of the movie "Plan 75", itself another take on a couple of earlier versions of "The Ballad of Narayama".
Those are beautiful photos, he saw Fuji san through an artist's eyes. And that link to his Twitter page was full of some very unusual shots. Between fishing the seas and lakes around Fuji, I carried a Canon 80D and a few lenses, but never shot anything comparable to his work. The second from the last looked like colors for a Fuji Camera commercial. Though he may have had many cameras, I saw that he mentioned Canon on his Twitter page.
I couldn't help but to try to look back on my travels and try to triangulate from where he took the shots, but could only guess a few ... the first being taken somewhere between the tea-leaf farms stretching between Shizuoka and Fuji City, and the 5th one just above Shizuoka harbor — though I am having trouble figuring out what time of the year would have the sun appearing to be north of Fuji. The third shows the lit-up Fuji-Yoshida trail, so guessing it was shot along the road somewhere between Kawaguchiko and Saiko. The fourth, through the cherry blossoms and the bright lights on the opposite shore, could only have been shot from the north bank of Kawaguchiko. And the sixth and seventh, just guessing because of the large, placid expanse of water and lack of lights on the opposite shore, were probably shot from the opposite side of Motosuko. The other shots have me scratching my head, and may well be from places I've yet to drive. Tanoshimi.
It's a shame too many Grinches and Scrooges of Japan would not have us photograph anything that can be commodified, even for a fee. And I've read on the now defunct DPReview of some sight seeing spots in Europe even forbidding photos of natural scenery. But allowing people to photograph his photographs? Hashimukai Makoto. That is a name I will try to remember.
Thanks for the heads up, DW. And nice to meet ya!
Outstanding photos. I’ve never seen any pictures of Mt Fuji to compare to these.